Average fuel price up 13 cents since late November

During the past month, the average price for diesel in the U.S. has increased 13 cents per gallon. The latest surge of 4.6 cents for the week ending Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, put the national average at $3.294 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In a year-over-year comparison, the latest posting by EIA is 56.2 cents per gallon higher than one year ago. That means a 200-gallon purchase has increased by $113 since December 2009.

ProMiles showed the daily average at $3.298 per gallon on Monday with no overnight change. Prices in some individual states did vary overnight, however. The tax-included price in Connecticut, for example, dropped 6.4 cents overnight to $2.911 per gallon, while prices in Louisiana were up 3.5 cents to $3.204.

In other energy news, the price of light sweet crude oil eased during midday trading Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Midday numbers showed February futures trading at $91.08 a barrel, down about 76 cents from last Thursday’s closing price. There was no trading over the holiday weekend.

Reuters reported that the drop in oil prices since Thursday has been due to a rise in interest rates in China. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s minister of oil suggests that the global economy could support $100 oil.